Michigan courthouse shooter handcuffed in front, protocol to be reviewed

(Reuters) - A protocol that allowed a prisoner to have his hands cuffed in front of him while being moved inside a southwest Michigan courthouse will be reviewed, Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey said on Tuesday, a day after the man grabbed an officer's gun and shot dead two bailiffs.

Larry Darnell Gordon, 44, was being transferred between a courtroom and a holding cell when he fought with a deputy and grabbed his gun, Bailey said.

Gordon fatally shot bailiffs Joseph Zangaro and Ron Kienzli and wounded sheriff's deputy James Atterberry and a civilian women. Atterberry, whose gun was used in the shootings, was in hospital in stable condition, Bailey said. Gordon was shot and killed by other officers.

Gordon, of Coloma, Michigan, was charged in April with armed first-degree criminal sexual conduct, first-degree criminal sexual conduct during a felony, felony kidnapping, and other crimes, and could have faced a life sentence if he had been convicted, the Detroit Free Press reported, citing the Michigan State Police.

The state police did not respond to a request for information about the charges.

Bailey said his department would review with the chief judge the procedure of handcuffing in front.

He praised two other bailiffs who ran to take down Gordon. "Those bailiffs were heroes ... This could have been a lot worse if they hadn't gone into the gunfire and taken this person down."

The courthouse shooting in St. Joseph, a town across Lake Michigan from Chicago, came days after five Dallas police officers were killed by a sniper during a protest against excessive use of force by police.